Railway-switch.



No. 764,264. PATENTED JULY 5, 1904. J. E. SWONSONx RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION TILED JUNE 3, 1903. NO MODEL. 2 SHBB8-SHEET 1 Wham 1mm; yam

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No. 764,264. PATENTED JULY 5, 1904.

J. E. SWONSON.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNE 3, 1903.

no MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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Patented July 5, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. SWONSON, OF DES MOINES, IOWA.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 764,264, dated July 5,1904.

Application filed June 3,1903- SerialN-159,869- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN E. SwoNsoN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in ElectricRailway-Switches, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of my invention are to provide simple, durable, andinexpensive means by which the movable switch-points of railwayswitchesmay be set to position by an operator on a car approaching the switch bymeans of an electric current taken from a trolley-Wire adjacent to thecar.

A further object is to provide improved means for connecting theelectromagnet with the switch, whereby the maximum efliciency of theelectric current is utilized in operating the switch-point; and,further, in this connection it is my object to provide a device of thisclass in which the only movable part connected with the'track orstationed in the road-bed in any manner is the movable switch-pointitself. My invention consists in certain details in the construction,arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device wherebytheobjects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more'fully setforth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a railway-carmounted upon a track and provided with my improved switch-operatingdevice.

.Fig. 2 is atop or plan View of a railway-switch having a movableswitch-point and showing the electromagnet in position relative thereto.Fig. 3 shows a detail sectional view on the indicated line 3 3 of Fig.2. Fig. 1 shows a diagram illustrating the arrangement of the electricalappliances used in operating the switch- Fig. 5 shows a detailperspective view of a part of the trolleywire, the trolley in engagementwith the wire,

and the circuit-establishing devices for oper atin'g the switchconnected with the trolleywire and the trolley; and Fig. 6 shows adctail view of a modified form ofmeans for establishing anelectriccurrent from a car to a wire 1n the road-bed.

Reierrmg to the accompanying drawings, 1

.have used the reference-numeral 10 to indicate the car proper mountedupon the railway-track rails 11.

The numeral 12 is used to indicate apole 01 ortact-points 17. The saidsupporting-wire 15 is attached to an insulating-block 18, fixed to thetrolley-wire. Connected with each of the contact-points 17 is anelectrical conductor 19, and these conductors are designed to carry anelectric current to the electromagnet placed in the road-bed andhereinafter described. The trolley-pole 12 is electrically connectedwith a condoctor 20, leading to a movable electric switch 21, carried bythe car. Secured to the sides of the trolley-pole 12 are the slidingcontact-arms 22, insulated from the trolley-pole by the insulators 23.These arms are so positioned relative to the trolley-pole and thecontact points 17 that they will both slidingly engage thecontact-points 17 as the car passes under the said contact-points 17.Connected with the sliding contact-arms 22 are the electrical conductors24. These conductors are connected to the contact-points 25, whichpoints are adjacent to the switch-lever 21 and so ar ranged that saidswitch-lever may be placed in position to connect the conductor 20 witheither one of the contact-points 25, so that a current may beestablished from the trolleywire through the trolley-pole 12, theconductor 20, the switch-lever 21, either one of the contact-points 25,and from thence through either one of the conductors 24:, the slidingcontact-arms 23, the stationary contact-points 17 and the conductors 19.Hence it is obvious that by a movement of the switch-lever 21 thedevices carried by'the car may be so set that when a car passes theswitch-points 17 a current from the trolley-wire may be passed througheither one of the conductors 19.

Referring to Fig. 2 of the drawings, the reference-numeral 26 indicatesthe straight branch of a railway-switch, and 27 the curved branchthereof. Between these branches is the movable switch-point 28, all ofordinary construction. Adjacent to the track-rail 26 is an electromagnet29, the body portion of which is under the track-rail 26. Thiselectromagnet 29 is connected with one of the conductor-wires 19 and isgrounded at 30, as shown in Fig. 4. Adjacent to the track-rail 27 is asimilar electromagnet 31, connected with the other conductor 19 andgrounded at 32. Each of these magnets is of the class having two coilsand their opposite poles being both at the upper ends thereof, saidcoils being arranged side by side and the poles projecting upwardly at33 and then horizontally through notches provided for them in thetrack-rails, said poles of each magnet being inclined toward each other,as shown in Fig. 2, and surrounding each pole is anon-magnetic protector34:, which may be made of brass and which incloses the end portion ofthe pole except at its top and end. The top of the pole that passesthrough the thread portion of the rail is flush with the top of therail. In use with this portion of my invention and assuming that acurrent is established through the electromagnet 29 it is obvious thatthe poles of said magnet are as near as may be possible to theswitch-point 28, and the force of said magnet will be utilized indrawing the switchpoint 28 toward it, and thereby setting theswitch-point in position to turn the car toward the curved branch of thetrack, and when a current is established through the other electromagnetit sets the switch to position to direct a car toward the straightbranch. Obviously by fixing all of the parts of theswitchpoint-operating mechanism in position in the road-bed I haveprovided a switch-operating means that is not likely to get out ofrepair and which exerts all of the efficiency of the electromagnet in adirect manner upon the movable switch-point itself.

In practical use the operator on a car approaching a switch need onlyset the switchlever 21, carried by the car, to position in engagementwith one of the contact-points 25.

- Then when the car reaches a position where current will be passedthrough the electromagnet only for the short period oftime in which thearms 22 are in engagement with the points 17, so that the electriccurrent passing through the trolley-wire is diverted and used for movingthe switch-point for only a very short time, and, furthermore, theelectromagnets can be thoroughly incased and protected from moisture,because there are no movable parts in any way connected therewith exceptthe movable switch-rail itself.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 6 I have illustrated a device fortransmitting an electric current from a car to a conductor in theroad-bed, as follows: The numeral 35 indicates a wire connected with thecar. This wire is attached to a yielding plate 36 on the under surfaceof the car, said plate being designed to engage a rounded metallic block37 in the road-bed contained in an insulator 38, said block beingconnected with a wire 39. Obviously when a car bearing a yieldingcontact-plate 36 passes one of the blocks 37 electrical communicationswill be had between the wires 35 and 39 during the time the contactplateis in engagement with the block 37 It is readily seen how thismodification may be applied to operate my improved switch by assumingthat the wire 35 is the same as one of the wires 24:, carried by thecar, and the wire 39 is the same as one of the wires 19 in the road-bed.4

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States therefor, is

1. The combination with a trolley-wire and an electric-railway car, of arailway-switch having a movable switch-point, an electromagnet having apole projecting horizontally through a part of the switch with its endadjacent to the movable switch-point and its top flush with the top ofthe tread portion through which it is passed, a non-magnetic protectorsurrounding the bottom and sides of the pole where it passes through thetread portion and means carried by the car for transmitting an electriccurrent from the trolley-wire to the electromagnet.

2. The combination with a switch having a movable switch-point, of anelectromagnet having a pole projecting horizontally through a part ofthe switch with its end adjacent to the movable switch-point and its topflush with the top of the tread portion through which it is passed, anda non-magnetic protector surrounding the bottom and sides of the polewhere it passes through the tread portion, for the purposes stated. I

3. The combination with a railway-switch having two stationary treadportions side by side, and a movable switch-point between poles passedthrough notches in the tread portions with their ends adjacent to theswitch- I tions with their ends adjacent to the switch point and theirtops flush with the tops of the tread portions, and non-magneticprotectors surrounding the sides and bottom of each pole and holding itout of contact with the tread portions.

4:. The combination with a railway-switch having two stationary treadportions side by side, and a movable switch point between them, of twoelectromagnets, each having two poles passed through notches in thetread porpoint and their tops flush with the tops of the tread portions,non-magnetic protectors surrounding the sides and bottom of each poleand holding .it out of contact with the tread portion, the poles passingthrough each tread portion being inclined toward each other.

JOHN E. SWONSON. Witnesses:

J. RALPH ORWIG, SIDNEY F. OI-IRIsTY.

